Business pros mentor SA youth to start their own businesses

South African youth have been encouraged to grab opportunities and not give up on starting their own small businesses.

Motivating young adults to keep working at it, National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) chief executive Steven Ngubeni said “it’s too soon to give up and be hopeless.”

He said youth both in the country and across Africa should not wait to seize opportunities and then “cry foul” once they were gone.

Ngubeni talked to BuaNews on the sidelines of an entrepreneurial mentorship programme made available from the NYDA’s partnership with US based Evo Media.

Ngubeni believed that the majority of small businesses ended up being closed inside a year of establishment as a result of absence of mentorship.

Roughly 50 mentees from the Western Cape are going to reap some benefits from the mentorship programme, set to run for the next few days, before it is moved to Gauteng.

Noli Mini testified at the gathering the fact that her mobile health spar business has been operating well subsequent to benefiting from mentorship from the NYDA.

She pointed out that immediately after three sessions of mentorship, she quit her job to follow her dream.Mini challenged the NYDA to follow up with entrepreneurs and assist them to put into action their business strategies.

NYDA chief executive Steven Ngubeni

She also challenged other entrepreneurs to look for business opportunities and not to assume the NYDA to “perform miracles.”

Geer Kyle Dennison, a young fashion designer who not too long ago relocated to Cape Town from Johannesburg, testified that after benefiting from mentorship, three boutiques had now accepted her clothing line.

Todd Plimpton, a mentor from the US, said he at the same time learnt from the people he mentored, adding that mentoring made it easier for him to “reground” his experiences.

Jabu Cindi, who operates a transport business in Cape Town, mentioned that aside from networking, he expected to learn more from the US mentors.

Having said that, he complained that it was not easy to gain access to the products and services of the NYDA as well as their “processes that take too long.”

Western Cape NYDA chairman Ghaliep Essop said young adults could rise beyond their poor backgrounds to own profitable businesses.

According to the NYDA, in excess of 5 000 young entrepreneurs throughout the country have utilized mentoring provided by local mentors. More than 500 seasoned professionals and entrepreneurs have volunteered to be of assistance to young business people.

It highlighted that more than 50 group mentoring sessions had been held countrywide, covering key issues impacting on small businesses, including the means to access funding, business leadership and staff development.

For more information, please contact National Youth Development Agency – click here